He would wake his wife, Marilyn, who wanted to see him off to work, and she would wave goodbye while he drove from their driveway toward Sam’s Club, where he would clean the building.

The retired electrician, who had served in the Navy during the Korean Conflict, got the job because he liked to stay busy and liked to work early because he liked the solitude.

But on the morning of May 28, 2005, his wife of nearly 42 years, Marilyn, awoke around 3 a.m. to find him missing. She didn’t know if he tried to wake her but couldn’t.

Half awake, Marilyn walked outside and made a devastating discovery.

“I found him in our driveway outside our home,” she said.

The body was lying near the open garage door. Their two cars were parked inside.

Patrick Housand had a terrible head wound.

Initially, Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies believed he was attacked by a mountain lion, said Jefferson County Sheriff’s spokesman Jim Shires.

But an autopsy proved that he was beaten to death. Someone had stolen something from him, Marilyn said. She didn’t say what it was on advice from a homicide investigator.

Authorities didn’t believe his attacker had a personal vendetta against the gentle man who was an active member of Our Lady of the Pines Catholic Church in Conifer, where he served as a Knight of Columbus.

“He was a people person,” Marilyn said. “He didn’t have any grudges with anyone and didn’t have any enemies. He was well-liked by everyone.”

Patrick Housand liked to spend time with his two sons and two daughters and growing number of grandchildren. He frequently went on long walks with his wife and busied himself with fix-it jobs inside and out of his home. The couple often went on trips together.

It was possible that the early riser surprised a burglar, who then attacked him, sheriff’s investigators have speculated.
But Marilyn said no cars or homes on their street had been burglarized that night.

“I don’t know why someone would think there was something to gain by burglarizing our home,” she said. “We don’t live in a mansion.”

Family members fear someone knew Patrick’s early-morning routine and specifically attacked him, that it wasn’t a random attack.

“We don’t know why it happened,” she said. “Needless to say the family and I are very frustrated. I’m in touch periodically with the investigator. I feel like I’m beating my head against the wall.”

Patrick’s wife and children hope that someone who knows something about the murder will step forward.

“He was my life,” Marilyn said. “One minute you have your life, and the next minute it’s gone and it’s never the same.”

Contact information: Investigators at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office can be reached at 303-277-0211. Denver Post reporter Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com